Return of the Old Gods
by Akatsuki Leader13
Summary: For countless centuries, we've waited for this day. The day that we take back what is rightfully ours. The Four Spirits are gone, and their Avatar cannot save you alone mortals. We shall rule again. Abandoned.
1. Prologue: Rise of the Heralds

Yo everybody! I know, I know, I shouldn't be starting a new story, but as many of my long-time fans know, my old laptop is broken, preventing me from accessing my files and all the stuff I've written. I've been trying to rewrite my stuff for my stories, but it going slow. Mainly because a part of me is now obsessed with writing new stuff that I hadn't planned on doing. Which has led me to writing two Avatar stories. Here is the first one.

And I should warn you, this one is on the border between the Teen and Mature rating. I've put in Teen, but it may go up to Mature.

Disclaimer: The standard, I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender.

**Prologue: Rise of the Heralds**

"_Mortal, it is time for you to return to your world,"_ the many voices of his liege spoke as one, giving him an echo as he spoke.

He knelt down before the greatness of his liege, the one who had saved him from certain death. He still felt the bitterness of how what should have been his greatest victory became his greatest defeat and near death. All because of one wretched little boy. He had laid siege to one of the untouchable strongholds of the enemies of the Fire Nation. He had slain a spirit of great power, which should have crippled one of the greatest threats to the Fire Nation and immortalized him in history. Instead, the spirit was restored and he was dragged to what would have been his doom if not for the intervention of his new liege. He was pulled from the grasp of a vengeful spirit and taken to realm beyond his world. His liege demanded his obedience for saving his life. He had given it, though half-heartedly, intending to use this being for his vengeance. He had been a fool back then. It wasn't long before he realized that the being who had saved him was beyond anything he ever known. It was greater than the Avatar. Greater than even the most powerful of spirits. Greater than everything else that existed.

"_I have blessed you with a fragment of my power. More than I have ever given any of my servants. For you shall be my Herald."_

Pride filled his heart. His Lord and Master had chosen him above all others. He was the Right Hand of his God. "By your command, my liege," he said, still bowing.

"_Go. Return to you world and fulfill my plans so that I may take back what is rightfully mine,"_ his liege demanded. _"Go Zhao, Herald of the Great Devourer."_

Suddenly, Zhao found himself falling through the vast, empty realm of his master, as a bright light blinded him. When the light faded and he opened his eyes, Zhao found himself falling towards water. Before he could do anything, he crashed into the water.

A few seconds later, Zhao's head rose up from the water, spitting out a mouth of the cold liquid. But something else rose up from the water too. A massive sea serpent. The creature let out a deafening roar.

Zhao grinned, revealing a mouth full of inhuman, razor teeth.

* * *

"_You came to me seeking protection from those that hunted you and the power to retake that which was once yours, human,"_ his teacher and master said though a small portal, a tear in the very fabric of the world.

Ever since he had been bested at what he had thought was his game, he had been on the run from those that would undoubtedly hunt him. Soldiers of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, his former agents, and anyone else with a grudge that had learned that he was now powerless. Fortunately, his time as the real ruler of Ba Sing Se had imparted with a great deal of knowledge. Including of a number of cults within the slums of Ba Sing Se. Perfect groups for him to hide amongst. And there had been certainly one that had remained a mystery even to him. The Children of the Void. Supposedly, they had worshipped an ancient god of sorcerious power. When he had ruled Ba Sing Se, he had sought to remove such filth from his city. And while he had succeeded against the other large cults, the Children of the Void remained forever out of his grasped. Agents that tried to infiltrate the group turned up dead. Whenever they tracked down a hideout of the cult, they disappeared without a trace. Nothing they did could stop this group. But when he was on the run, it took less than a day for him to find them, or rather, for them to find him. They claimed that they had been waiting for him as their god had predicted and they had brought him to their lair. Not by foot or by bending, but by sorcery. Real sorcery. Needless to say, he desired to learn this new power and use it to reclaim what was his. Which their god was more than willing to teach, provided he serve him and his cults, and abandoned earthbending forever. With little other choice, he accepted and gain power beyond his imagination. Power beyond mere bending.

"_I have given you that. Now it is time for you to fulfill my part of our agreement. You are to become my Herald, Long Feng-"_

_CRASH!!!_

Long Feng turned to one of the cultists. "What was that?!" he demanded.

"Earth Kingdom soldiers! We've been found!" a cultist called out from an ajoining chamber of their underground hideout as the sounds of combat echoed through the tunnels.

"_Long Feng, dispose of this foolish rabble immediately."_

Long Feng nodded and left the central chamber of their hideout, heading towards the fighting. It didn't take him long to fight the battle. The cultists were fighting a band of Earth Kingdom soldiers and earthbenders, and were losing terrible. The cultists were little more than poorly equipped peasants from the slums of Ba Sing Se. Against trained soldiers, they were doomed.

Long Feng extended his hands, ghostly, pale blue energy in his hands. "Soldiers, earthbenders, here me!" he shouted, drawing their attention. "I am Long Feng, Herald of the Lord of the Void! You are nothing compared to me!"

* * *

"_You have learned much in short time, my child,"_ her unseen mistress whispered in her ear as a guard walked passed her cell.

She had been locked up because of her only student. Which she had not cared about. She bore no anger towards her pupil because of her current imprisonment. What had angered her was that her weak willed pupil, powerful as she was, was too weak-willed to do what needed to be done. Instead of using her teachings to crush the Fire Nation and avenge all those that had suffered and died at their hands, she helped the new Fire Lord and the equally weak Avatar overthrow Ozai and ended the war without the destruction of that accursed Nation. But as she sat in her cell, waiting for age and death to claim her, a voice began to speak to her. First in her dreams, but over time, she began to hear the voice when she was awake. The voice promised her power and a chance to bring justice to the Fire Nation as it should have received. All in exchange for her loyalty. Needless to say, she pledged herself to the voice. Her mistress.

"_Your training is complete,"_ she continued, her voice ever changing. _"Before, you could control peoples' bodies, now you can control their bodies and minds. Dominating them entirely. Even reshaping their bodies into what you desire. But first, allow me to give you one final gift."_

Suddenly, she screamed, her voice howling through the prison. It felt like her body was being torn violently in many directions. She fell forward, landing on her arms, shutting her eyes tight as the pain threatened to overwhelm her. After what seemed like an eternity of unending agony, it stopped. _"Open your eyes, my Herald. Open your eyes, Hama, Herald of the Mistress of Nightmares and behold your new body."_

Hama opened her eyes, a third eye opening on her forehead, staring down at her hands. The once old, wrinkled and withered hands were now young once again. Hama, overcome with joy at her restored body, let out a cackling laugh as a guard reached her cell. She stopped laughing, her three eyes staring at the man.

Screams and laughter filled the prison…

* * *

"_When I found you, you were weak, pathetic and the verge of death,"_ the voice of his master rasped in his mind.

He remembered the war, the siege, and being buried alive alongside many of his men by those wretched earthbenders. He remembered being in cased in dirt and earth, unable to move, unable to breath. Trapped in the endless darkness. He remembered praying to Agni, the other spirits, anyone who would save them. But none of them answered. None of them cared about mortals. Save for his master. He promised him a chance to rise again, with more power than he had ever dream of, if he swore his undying devotion to him. Naturally, he accepted, swearing his devotion to his patron. His master pulled his soul from his dying body, into the realm he was imprisoned in. There he learned much, forsaking the Fire of Agni that he had been born with for a greater power. The power of death itself.

"_But now you are strong. Now you are mighty. Now you shall live again, immortal and powerful."_

He could feel his master reaching out to him, pulling his soul from the Infinite Abyss and returning it to his buried body. _"Rise my servant. Rise Lu Ten, Herald of the Death God."_

For the first time in years, Lu Ten opened his eyes.

Moments later, in a farmer's field, in the walled city of Ba Sing Se, a hand erupted out of the ground, followed quickly by another. Lu Ten pulled his dead body out of the ground and began walking towards the great Earth Kingdom capital, crushing cabbages beneath his feet.

"My cabbages!" a nearby farmer screamed, rushing towards him.

Without even looking, Lu Ten struck, a coil of purple energy lashing out from his hand, wrapping around the man's throat. The farmer screamed as the very life was sucked out of him, leaving a dead, withered husk. The farmer's body fell to ground and Lu Ten continued his march to Ba Sing Se. To only living person he desired to speak to.

His father…

* * *

Doctor Yuan Shao let out a sigh as entered the maximum security wing of his asylum. It was first of what he hoped would be a new generation of asylums. Before he taken over this asylum, it, like all the others in the Fire Nation, had been little more than prisons for the mentally disturbed. Back then, no one bothered with trying to cure the mad, they just threw them in asylums to keep them hidden and away from the rest of the world. Of course, that was still better than the methods of the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, whom had no facilities for the disturbed and treated them like dangerous criminals instead.

But to Yuan, the mind was no different from the body. It could become sick and injured just like a person's body. Naturally, there needed to be people that could heal it. Of course, his belief was likely born from his childhood. When his mother, after learning of the death of her husband in the war, descended into madness, was locked up and eventually died in an asylum. Yuan sought to unravel the secrets of the mind, so he could heal those afflicted with diseases of the mind.

His theories and methods had revolutionized the field. Patients he treated saw improvement on their conditions. Some were cured, living happy, normal lives. For the first time in recorded history, there was the possibly of a cure for madness.

A year ago, word of his methods reached the ears of the new Fire Lord. Hearing of his success, the Fire Lord placed him in charge of the Wan Dao Asylum and asked him to treat to his sister, which he agreed to quite readily.

The young Fire Princess had proven to be his most difficult patient in his entire career. When he had first received her, Azula was extremely dangerous, ranting and raving as she threw fire all over the place. Naturally, they had facilities for firebenders, but Azula soon proved to be too much. It quickly became impossible for anyone to approach her while she was conscious. Without any other options, the Fire Lord asked the Avatar to take her bending away.

Yuan remembered that day well. In all the months Azula had been under his care that was the one time she seemed the closest to sanity. When the Avatar and the Fire Lord arrived and told her that they were going to take away her bending, the princess's rage instantly stopped. She began to beg and plead for them not to before flying into an insane rage again, demanding that they let her go and give her back her crown, only to switch back to fear and begging.

After the Avatar had taken away her bending, Azula changed dramatically, dropping into a deep depression. There were days when she wouldn't move or respond to anything. There were others where she would cry endlessly for no reason. And then there were days were she would just mope and mumble. But regardless of how she was acting, there were two things that she would always do. The first was shivering from time to time over the course of the day. It didn't matter what the temperature was, she would shiver as though she was sitting on an iceberg in the South Pole. The other thing was talk to her mother, the still missing Lady Ursa.

Of the two, he had concluded that the shivering was a mental twitch, the result of the loss of her firebending. But her hallucinations of mother were a major part of her madness and even seemed to haunt her dreams. Lady Ursa was an important aspect in understanding Azula's madness. Yet whenever he asked her about her mother, Azula would throw a violent tantrum, yelling and screaming as she destroyed anything she could get her hands on.

Most troubling, however, was her multiple suicide attempts in the months since her bending had been taken, which had increased dramatically in recent weeks. As a result, she was now under heavy observation and her body was constantly kept in a straitjacket, save for when she was being cleaned. Yuan had loathed to take such extreme measures, on anyone, but he had little choice.

Yet, no matter what he tried, she showed no signs of improvement what so ever. This completely mystified him as even other patients, who he knew had little to no chance of overcoming their madness, showed some signs of improvement. In fact, she seemed to be getting worse. It was almost as though some external force was driving her mad and keeping her mad.

Yuan pushed aside those thoughts as he reached the door to Azula's room. Steeling himself for another session with the young girl, he opened the door. Azlua was sitting on her bed, staring blankly at the wall, ignoring him as he entered, mumbling to herself. Her once beautiful ebon locks of hair were a mangled mess again. During her last suicide attempt, Azula had savagely cut out chucks of her hair, screaming, 'Is my hair beautiful now, mother?! Is it?!'

"Good afternoon Azula," Yuan greeted, pulling the only chair in the room next to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

For a moment, she didn't respond, lost in her own world. But after a minute, her eyes repeatedly and she noticed him. Azula turned her towards him and staring into his black eyes with her lifeless gold ones, she quietly said, "The Heralds of the Old Gods have risen… They seek the one who will become the Avatar of the Old Gods… And when they do, the Dark Avatar will free the Old Gods and the world will be consumed in darkness once again…"

As she spoke and for reasons he couldn't explain, Yuan shuttered. And once those words left her mouth, Azula fell back into her own world again, her head slumping back down.

Yuan was unsettled. The princess's eyes when she spoke were empty, lifeless. Like she was nothing more than a shell, a puppet, speaking someone else's words. But what he found more unsettling was that one of his other patients spoke those same words this morning, but he hadn't generated the uneasy that Azula had. "Who is this Dark Avatar?"

"One of the blood of the Avatar and a their tyrant…" she mumbled.

"You mean the Old Gods? Just who are these Old Gods? And who exactly has the blood of the Avatar and a tyrant?"

Azula suddenly began to back away from him, shaking her head, uttering, "No, no, no, no…"

Yuan put hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. But Azula flinched from the contact and tried to move further away from him. She looked up at him again. Yuan saw something in those golden eyes that he had never seen before in all the time he had been treating her. Pure, primordial terror.

In a voice barely above a whisper, she said, "Me…"

* * *

And done. Now, I'll have the first chapter of the other story up in a few days and then write a few chapters for both , then see which one is more popular and continue that one.

As always, review!


	2. Chapter One: The Warning and the Gift

Yo everybody! I was quite pleased by the response I got for the prologue of this and hope to hear more from fans. And to fans of Twist of Fate, I'm working on an all new, completely original, chapter for it, which I'm hoping will be done by the end of the weekend.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender or its characters. I do however, own the OCs.

**Chapter One: The Warning and the Gift**

Fire Nation Royal Palace

Fire Lord Zuko sighed as he sat down at his desk. He glanced at the small pile of correspondence lying on the desk. Thankfully, it was all personal letters. But most were more than a few days old. He just didn't have the time for them, not with the problems that have risen up, the biggest of which was threatening to renew the war that had raged for a century, the Fire Nation colonies. Now that the war was over, many of the displaced citizens of the Earth Kingdom wanted their lands back, which while it sounded simple in theory; it was proving to be much more difficult in realty. There were too many Fire Nation colonists to just bring the people back to the homeland just like that. Worse, there many colonists that had been born and raised in the colonies, who didn't want to didn't want to leave the only home they knew. Needless to say, the issues had become a major problem. There were members of the Fire Nation that proclaimed that the lands of colonies were now Fire Nation lands by right of conquest and that they would defend those lands while there were members of the Earth Kingdom that demanded that they return the lands that were theirs' by right or they would take them back by force. Both he and the Earth King, Kuei, were struggling just to keep the peace.

Then there were those in both the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom and among the Water Tribes that were refusing to accept the peace. A hundred years of battles, pain, sorrow and hating the opposing side had left many people unable to stand the idea of living peacefully among the people that had been their enemies for as long as most of them had lived. There were a number of groups from all three nations, like more than pirates and bandits that were raiding villages and towns of the nation that had been their enemies in the war.

But at least for a little bit, he didn't have to worry about it. Now he could sit back and hear about how everyone else was.

Zuko sorted the letters, separating them by who they were from, the oldest in front and the newest in back. He paused when he found a letter from Doctor Yuan. It had just arrived today, but if it was from the doctor, then it was about Azula and therefore, very important.

Azula was always a sore spot fiir him. For a long time, he hated her, resented her, for everything she had been gifted with. Until their final battle and its aftermath, seeing Azula so utterly broken had taken away any and all of the anger and hatred he felt for her. Now, Zuko wanted to help her. But she had quickly proven herself to be just as dangerous as she had been sane, leaving him with only one option. Asking Aang to take away her firebending until she recovered. Taking away from her the only thing that she had left in the world. Zuko still remembered that day with crystal clarity. Her pleading and begging when they told her, her rage and anger at them for seeking to take away what she had been born with, and finally, the empty, lifeless expression on her face after had taken away her bending. But it had to be done. In her state, she was a danger to herself as well as everyone else.

Zuko broke the letter's seal and unrolled the parchment. The news wasn't good. In recent days, Azula had taken a dramatic turn for the worst and Doctor Yuan feared that his sister wouldn't survive for much more beyond another week unless something changed.

She was dying…

Zuko slumped down as the realization of the letter hit him, letting out a defeated sigh. He had failed her. He had tried to get her the best help he could, but it had amounted to nothing.

He rolled up the parchment and set it off to the side. If nothing could be done for her, then he would stay with for her last days. Of course, it would have to be after the next few days. One of Ty Lee's sisters was getting married and with nobility marrying, it would be a big grand ceremony, with every noble in the Fire Nation in attendance. As Fire Lord, he could excuse himself from the ceremony and festivity that would follow, but Ty Lee's owned a great deal of undeveloped land in the Fire Nation. Land that he was in the process of purchasing for at least some of the colonist to settle on. Not attending the wedding could be seen as an insult and could stall the negotiations for that land. Something they couldn't afford to have happen.

'_Ty Lee will want to see her too,'_ he thought. _'She'll be devastated to hear what's happened, but she'll want to be there. Mai too.'_

Aside from himself, Ty Lee and Mai, who had only visited her on one occasion, have been the only people to see Azula. Even Mai, who had been ready to kill Azula at Boiling Rock, was unable to continue hating Azula in her current, broken state. They would be the only people that would want to see her.

Well, there was one other person…

Their mother.

But she was still missing. The last thing his father had over him. Ozai claimed to know where she was, but he wasn't talking. To him, it had become a game, taunting Zuko with the knowledge he sought. But Zuko doubted that he would ever talk. No, Ozai would never tell him where she was.

"Young Fire Lord, I bring dire news," a voice behind him spoke, tearing Zuko from his thoughts.

The Fire Lord spun around as he rose from his chair, facing the speaker. It was a man clad in an elegant and expensive-looking Fire Nation robes. Nobility, judging from the red and black colors, trimmed with gold. But his head was covered under a dark hood, obscuring his face, while his right hand held a long, unusual wooden staff. The staff appeared to very old and to have been roughly cut from a tree, rather than a professionally carved staff that a nobleman would carry. But Zuko's eyes were drawn to the head of the staff, where four animals had been carved into wood. Each was holding a small, round, colored stone with a symbol engraved on it. The first was a bird, an eagle, with a light green stone resting on its breast, the symbol of Air carved into it. Next was a creature that Zuko had never seen before. He could best describe as the offspring of a fish and the Earth King's bear. It had the shape and girth of the bear, but it looked distinctly like a fish rather than a beast that walked the forests. Resting in its thick, scale-covered arms was a blue stone baring the symbol of Water. Third, was one that he had seen in books, a badger-mole and like the fish-bear, the yellow stone of Earth sat in its arms. The final creature was one that Zuko was quite familiar with, a dragon. In its talons was the final stone, red with the symbol of Fire.

"Who are you? And how did you enter my quarters?" Zuko demanded.

But the man ignored his questions. "The terrible Darkness from long, long ago is returning," the man spoke, his old voice strong and passionate. "The gate will be opened and the imprisoned horrors released. Destroying and enslaving all. Armies will be wiped out. Nations will be torn asunder. Not even the Avatar, with the power of all four elements, can stop this threat. The only hope for your world and your people is to recover the Relics of the Four, and to lead your people away from the danger, to the Throne of Agni."

Zuko shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't help but wonder if this man was sane. The Throne of Agni was a mythical volcano, where Agni, the First Fire Lord, built the first capital of the Fire Nation until was lost centuries ago, or so the stories go. It was also where they say that old, dying dragons travel to when they are at the end of their lives, to die there. But no one had ever found it and most believed that it wasn't even a real place. "The Throne of Agni? That's a myth, nothing more. And even if it did exist, it would be impossible to take all of my people there."

"Many must be sacrificed to ensure the survival of the few and the future. But the Throne of Agni is no myth. It exists. You must take your people there, along with the lost Heart of Agni."

Zuko found himself growing more confused and angry at the man's words. He had no idea what the Heart of Agni was, much less where it could be. But not only that, he was saying that he would have to abandon a lot of his people, in not most, to this 'Darkness'. Something he would never do. He would never abandon his people when they needed him. "You're asking me to take as many of my people as I can and load them onto boats and take them to a place that no one knows the location of while letting the rest just die?"

"Travel west and to the north from your lands. You will find it."

Zuko froze. Now he knew this man was insane. To the west was the Great Howling Sea. A vast expanse of water that no one had ever sailed into and survived. "Across the Howling Sea?! That's insane! Sailors fear those waters! No one would ever agree to go there!"

Unfazed by his shouting, the man replied, "As I said, it is the only hope for your world."

Zuko had enough. This man was clearly disturbed. "That's enough! Unless you have solid proof of your claims, I will not listen to your ramblings," he said, pointing a finger accusingly at him. "Guards!"

The Royal Guards that stood on guard in the hallway outside, rushed in, noticeably confused by the sight of the hooded man inside the room they had been guarding.

"This world was once enslaved by the approaching Darkness. I will not let the world fall back into that terrible time," the man said, his tone solemn. "If you will not take up this call, I will find another who will."

And with that, the man faded away before their eyes.

Elsewhere, in an alley in the Fire Nation Capital, a hooded man carrying a wooden staff appeared out of nowhere. "The warning has been given. His fate is now his own," the man said to himself as walked out of the alley. "He refused, but other children of Agni will heed the call."

* * *

Wan Dao Asylum

Yuan Shao let out long, tired sigh as he reached the door to his office. Things had not been going well over the last couple of days. Nearly every patient in the asylum had become psychotically violent, lashing out at anything and anyone. As a result, every doctor, nurse and orderly on staff was now forced to work double, even triple, shifts to cope. And even then, they were just barely preventing the inmates from killing each other.

None of it made sense. Sure, there were dangerous, violent patients in the asylum, but they were in the minority. Most of the patients weren't violent nor had they ever shown indicators of such violent behavior. In fact, the most docile patients in the facility were the first to become dangerous, after that, it spread to the rest of the asylum rather quickly. Something was driving these people to become psychotic. And the only patients that didn't seem affected were those in the maximum security wing. Of course, it was next to impossible to tell if they were affect as the behavior of those affected was the same as their current behavior. There were only two exceptions to this. Azula and a man named Ren Jiao. The two people that said the same thing to him, on the same morning. And two people that were connected by more than just their shared madness.

Ren Jiao had been the asylum before Yuan himself started working here and was one of the more interesting cases. Born in the small village of Sima, Ren had shown an incredible intelligence at an early age. His parents, realizing his intelligence, worked hard to send him the Zhang Yun Academy, where he graduated at the top of his class, at just over half the age of his classmates. Word quickly spread across the Fire Nation of this brilliant teenaged scholar, earning the interest of Fire Lord Azulon. Ren was taken to the palace, joining the royal scholars. What Azulon had him study, Yuan had no idea, but two years after arriving at the palace, Ren suddenly left the Capital and returned home. But then something terrible happened. One morning, a trade caravan found the village empty, save for the bodies of about two-thirds of its people. Some showed signs having been killed by combat, either by weapons or firebending, but most appeared to have torn apart by animals. But most alarmingly, a third of the people of the village were just gone without a trace. No one knew what had happened to the people of Sima. Officially, the village was attacked and massacred by Water Tribe marauders. Privately, however, few believed that and had their own theories, each more outlandish than the last. In the weeks following the incident, there was a string of murders. Government officials, officers in the military and navy, and mid-level nobles, were found murdered. The killing spree was ended when the killer failed to kill what he proclaimed to be his most important target, the three year old granddaughter of the Fire Lord, Azula, and was captured. The killer freely admitted to killing all the others, claiming that they were all traitors to every living being in this world or not human at all. But probably the most bizarre part of it, Azulon did not have him executed. Instead, he was quietly and secretly sent to this asylum. No one other than Azulon, his closest elite guards, and those that worked at this asylum knew this. Not even Azulon's successors had known this. So Ren had been locked up in the maximum security wing ever since, despite the fact he rarely ever displayed any signs of madness.

The first time Yuan spoke with Ren, he asked about what happened during his time at the palace and what happened afterwards. The young man looked him dead in the eye and said that he had found out what true evil was and he chosen to take a stand against it. But when he pressed him on what this evil was, he refused to answer, saying that he would be better off living in blissful ignorance than learning the horrible truth. Or as Ren had ultimately put it, innocence can only be taken, never restored.

When everything started going wrong, Ren cut himself and began writing on the walls of his room and on his own forehead with the blood. What he wrote was in a language that he, nor any of his staff, had ever seen before. After he finished writing, he chanted something in an equally unknown language for a few minutes. Ever since, he has refused to leave his room, stating that he's safe there, that his room was the only safe place in the asylum. Some of staff, having become more than a little unsettled by his actions, had refused to even go near his room.

Other than that, Ren seemed unaffected by what was happening around them.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Azula. The girl had stopped eating, stopped sleeping, stopped doing anything and everything, save for sit and quietly utter endless sentences that didn't make any sense.

They had managed to keep her body sustained by carefully giving her water and feeding her broth. But if she didn't get some sleep soon, she'd likely die from lack of sleep.

Yuan was running out of options, both for Azula and the other patients. Early today, he had sent a message to the Fire Lord, explaining the change in Azula's condition, and sent messages to his colleagues in the few other asylums, asking for advice.

But he doubted that anything could help. It was like something was just driving all patients deeper and deeper into madness. Though he hadn't said this to anyone, he feared that what was happening here could be happening in other places all across the world or even worse, spread to those that weren't mad to begin with.

Yuan entered his office, only to find someone sitting at his desk. A young man, if he was a day over twenty-five than Yuan was an Air Nomad, clad in the uniform of a Fire Nation Army Captain, drinking tea. His youthful face would have fit in among the faces of the sons of the nobles of the Fire Nation, save for the darker, tanned skin tone of a man that has spent more time outside, fighting than inside the walls of academies and villas.

Yuan knew this man. Well, everyone in the Fire Nation knew this man, but that was beside the point. His young, noble features, his long black hair pulled back and braided into a long ponytail and his calm, analytical gray eyes, staring at Yuan.

"Kuzon the Younger…" Yuan said his voice barely above a whisper.

Suddenly, the door closed behind him. Yuan glanced over his shoulder. A massive Fire Nation soldier stood behind him. The man towered over Yuan, who wasn't a small man himself. But the soldier wasn't just tall; his body was covered in huge muscles, giving him the appearance of the mythical Stone Golem. And if the two ever met in combat, Yuan was pretty sure that they would equally matched. He was bald, save for a single, wild strip of hair, dyed red, running across the top of his head. On the hairless sides of his head, were words tattooed in an ancient, and no longer used, written language of the Fire Nation. "You already know me Doctor, but I doubt you know my aide, Sergeant Zhen," the young Captain calmly said, as they were politely exchanging introductions.

The sergeant bowed his head in response. "You'll have to forgive him. Zhen has always been a man of few words, even before taking the Oath of the Raging Blaze," Kuzon added.

Yuan was familiar with that old Oath. It was an oath that anyone in the Fire Nation could make, giving up all titles, status, possessions and if they were a firebender, their bending, and sought only death in battle, preferably their enemy in the process. One who sought to take the Oath, would travel to a Fire Nation temple and make the Oath before the temple's altar. At the same time, the priests of the temple would cut the man's hair, leaving him bald, save for a single strip, then dye it red and inscribe the Oath of the Raging Blaze on the sides of his head. After that, the warrior would forge a weapon for themselves and have it blessed by the priests. It would be his last weapon, for he would use it and only it until his death.

These warriors who sought nothing but death in battle were known as Inferno Walkers, for they would walk into the inferno of battle without fear and without armor, with only a weapon and their honor where they would remain until the battle ended or they died.

But Yuan had thought that the Oath was just an archaic piece of the past, that no one took that Oath anymore. Clearly he was wrong.

"Sit, Doctor. We have much to discuss," Kuzon said, gesturing towards the empty seat in front of the desk.

Nervously, Yuan took the seat as Zhen moved to the side of the desk. Noting this, Kuzon added, "I believe you could use some tea Doctor."

Without saying anything, Zhen picked up the pot of tea that had been sitting unnoticed on a tray, on the desk and poured a second cup, giving it to Yuan, whose hands were trembling. "Relax Doctor Yuan. We have no intention of harming you."

Yuan found that hard to believe. Captain Kuzon had been born in a long line of heroes of the Fire Nation. Named after his grandfather, the legendary General, Kuzon the Great, Kuzon, seeking to preserve his family's legacy after the disaster that his father created, lied about his age, joining the Army when he was still just a child. But he was strong and intelligent, and had a bit of help from his commanding officer, General Iroh. Early on, Kuzon was met by ridicule and mistrust from his comrades-in-arms, nicknaming him Kuzon the Younger, the foolish grandson of Kuzon the Great. But that soon changed. Kuzon threw himself into the thickest of the fighting, seeking to prove himself to his comrades, to the Fire Nation, to ancestors, and to himself. It didn't take long for Kuzon to gain the reputation of a fierce, cunning, fearless and above all, honorable warrior and for the nickname, the Younger, to become positive. Calling him the reincarnation of Kuzon the Great.

When Fire Lord Zuko ascended the throne, many thought the young Captain would have been among those that supported the new Fire Lord. Instead, he proclaimed that Zuko was not the true Fire Lord and that he had spat on the honor of the nation by claiming the throne, creating the group, the Patriots of Agni to oppose him and to place who they believed to be the true Fire Lord back on the throne.

Princess Azula.

"I know what you want," Yuan said, trying to keep his voice calm and steady. "But Azula isn't fit to lead our nation."

"I am aware of that," Kuzon replied. "I was at the palace on the Day of Sozin's Comet."

Yuan blinked a few times in disbelief. "Then why have you been causing trouble for the Fire Lord?"

"Because, he did not earn the title, merely he lied about it and was endorsed by the Avatar. Something to which I understand that the Avatar cannot and must do." Kuzon stood up and continued, walking around the desk, "As I said, I was there at the palace on the Day of Sozin's Comet. I witnessed the Agni Kai between Fire Lord Azula and Prince Zuko. The Prince only bested his sister with the aid of a waterbender. Her interference means that Zuko forfeited the duel, yet he has the gull to proclaim that he defeated Fire Lord Azula and that he is now Fire Lord. Is that right? Is that the honorable thing to do?"

Yuan didn't reply.

"It is not and honor demands that he admit it," Kuzon answered. "While I do admit that Fire Lord Azula is currently unable to rule and Zuko should lead our nation until our true leader recovers, it should only be as Lord Regent of the Fire Nation, not as Fire Lord."

"But why?" Yuan asked. "Azula's unfit to lead the Fire Nation and I doubt she'll recover any time soon. So why are you doing all this? Why not wait until she has recovered to take up this fight?"

Kuzon turned towards the window of his office, staring out at the night sky. "I had considered that. Until he spoke to me."

"Who?"

"Agni."

* * *

It was late, very late. Only a few people were awake, and all but one, were members of the staff. Azula, former Fire Lord, now little more than an empty shell, was still awake, dark bags under her empty, golden eyes as she spoke to no one. "And the Avatar of the Four shall rise up to confront Them but They shall strike him down, trapping his soul deep in the realm of spirits. They shall rejoice as the world weeps."

At that moment, the door to her room opened and a hooded woman entered the room. She paused, studying the girl for moment before shaking her head in sorrow. She took the seat next to Azula's bed and spoke, "Many consider you a lost cause; that your mind is too far gone to save. But I know better. I know your mind isn't that far gone, Azula; that you aren't that far gone. There is still hope for you; just as there is still hope for this world."

But Azula didn't seem to hear her and continued to her mindless droning. "Those who sleep under the foundation of the ancient city of stone shall rise. And with their cold anger, they will destroy those who lived above them. Their blood shall flow through the city's sewers and gutters."

The woman reached out, placing a hand on Azula's shoulder. "Their whispers have poisoned you for so long, so very long. I am partly to blame," she admitted. "I could have done something long ago. I could have taken you somewhere safe from them. But I was too afraid to. For that I am sorry."

She pulled out a knife and took her hand off Azula. "I know why desire you, what they want you to become and how they have sought to close all other paths before you. Paths that could lead you away from what they desire," she said, cutting the palm of her hand. "I have a gift for you Azula, to make up for all the mistakes I've made. One that I pray will lead you down a better path."

With the blood on her fingers, she started drawing a series of symbols on Azula's forehead as she began to chant in a forgotten language. Azula suddenly stopped, letting out a loud gasp as the symbols began to glow. The woman's chanting grew louder, causing the light to grow brighter.

As suddenly as it started, it ended, light fading as the chanting stopped. Azula, the symbols on her forehead now gone, collapsed onto her bed, asleep before her body landed.

"I can't make your decision for you, but I can block out their constant whispers, and allow you to make your choice, free of their poisonous words," the woman said, rising from her seat.

"What have you done?!!" an orderly, standing in the doorway shouted.

"I know what you are, _creature_," the woman spat. "I know all about your kind and what you are planning. She will not serve your masters."

The man let out a sinister laugh as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "Her fate was determined many, many centuries ago, as is the fate of this world. No one can stop it."

"I do not believe that anyone's life is predetermined at birth. She will make her own fate," she replied, slipping into a firebending stance.

"Fool! What can a mere human hope to do against Gods?! No one can challenge them and succeed! She will-"

The orderly was cut off when a blast of fire consumed him. "Four defied your masters before and it led to their downfall," the woman coldly stated as the man thrashed in the fire.

Suddenly, the fire stopped, put out by seemingly nothing. But the man was gone and in his pale was something that wasn't human. Though it was as tall as a man and had the shape of a man, it was no man. No human was that thin, nor had limbs that long. It looked like someone had taken a man's body and removed everything but the skin and bones and then stretched the body into unnatural proportions, the creature's fingers ending at its knees. Its hairless skin was a dark purple while its head was mostly human save a fleshly pit for a nose, no ears and a third eye on its forehead. The creature stretched its body, causing a second set of arms to unfold from its back and claws to emerge from all of its fingers and toes.

"_But they died in end. Your nations are weak from infighting. The humans of Anila are all but extinct. You've forgotten so much of the world and your own past,"_ it taunted just before it lunged at her. She sidestepped its attack and struck back with a fire dagger, but the creature backhanded her with one of its second arms, knocking her to the ground. _"You humans are so pathetically weak. Those accursed Four were fools for choosing you humans to contain their Avatar over the other races," _it continued, swinging its clawed limbs at her as she rolled away. _"You're weak. Pathetic. And so deliciously easy to manipulate. Youngest, stupidest and most arrogant race in this world!"_ it roared, bringing all four of its arms down on her.

The woman dove out of the way of its claws and jumped back onto her feet, creating a fire whip. "Perhaps. While we are capable of great evil, we are also capable of great good!" She struck back, the whip wrapping around its neck. The creature let out a shrill wail as the whip tightened. "Back wretched creature! Back to your masters imprisoned in the Abyss!" she shouted at it, her voice filled with hatred.

She gave the whip a sudden, hard pull, decapitating the monster. The head hit the ground while the body staggered for a moment before collapsing. The head let out one final gasp before dying. A moment later, the remains turned to dust.

With the creature gone, the woman turned her attention to Azula once more. "Azula," she whispered into the girl's ear as she placed a folded note in her hand. "Remember, your mother has always loved you."

Ursa placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead and then left, disappearing into the night

* * *

The Jasmine Dragon

The Following Day

"Now, I understand stealing in order to survive, but wouldn't it be nicer to earn money honestly rather than steal it?" Iroh asked the young boy sitting across from him.

The day had gone by quite smoothly for him until this boy showed up. Based on his attire and how thin he was, the boy was clearly from the poorer sections of the city. Which was confirmed a short while later when he barely managed to catch the boy pick-pocketing one of the wealthier customers. Of course, after catching the boy and emptying his pockets, Iroh realized that the boy had stolen five other people in his restaurant without anyone noticing. Including from him. Iroh had to admit, the boy was daring and a very good thief to have stolen so much in the middle of a restaurant full of people.

"Hmph. Doing what? Serving tea to the rich? Fat chance. These pompous morons wouldn't stand a chance in the world without their money," the boy replied.

Iroh couldn't help but chuckle. "Perhaps, but I serve plenty of ordinary hard-working people as well. And by stealing from my customers, you're stealing from me and those who work for me as well." He paused and then added, "Are you hungry?"

"No," the boy said, but his stomach answered differently, letting out a loud groan.

The boy's face became red with embarrassment while Iroh started to laugh. "I believe your stomach disagrees."

The boy grumbled. "Fine. But I don't take charity."

For a moment, the boy reminded Iroh of his nephew. Just as stubborn and prideful as Zuko could be. "Then you can work it off in the kitchen. Deal?"

The boy nodded. "Deal."

Iroh stood up, turning to leave, but stopped and glanced back. "By the way, my name is Iroh."

"Food first, names later."

Iroh chuckled once again as he left for the kitchen. The boy certainly knew what he wanted. He was nearly at the kitchen when he noticed a new patron sitting at the table next to the kitchen doors. A traveler, judging from the hooded traveling cloak he wore. Though oddly, the hood was pulled up over his head, hiding his face. "And what can I get for you, sir?" Iroh asked.

The traveler glanced up at him, his face still hidden. "What do you recommend, father?"

* * *

That's it for now. I'm quite pleased with how it worked out. For those of you that are wondering, Aang and the others won't begin to appear until the chapter after next.

Next Chapter: Father and Son Reunited

As always, review!


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